Sausage and bean cassoulet, with goat’s cheese

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe and given that I invented something totally random for tea this evening, and encouraging noises were made by Twitter, I thought it was worth posting. I started off with notions of something a bit Hispanic in style, but then it took its own course, based on the random collection of ingredients we had in the cupboard. I actually have no idea what cuisine it could be fitted into, indeed I am struggling to think of a suitable name for the dish. Which is of course how all the best meals are made. Enjoy!

Sausage and bean cassoulet, with a goat’s cheese twist

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tsps olive oil

2 white onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large courgette, diced

4 cooked sausages sliced at a jaunty angle (we barbequed ours yesterday, and we used Cumberlands)

2 tsps paprika

2 tsps cayenne pepper

2 tsps all purpose seasoning, or Mexican seasoning, whatever you’ve got

Salt and pepper to taste

Tin of chopped tomatoes

Quarter of the tin rinsed out with cold water

Tin of butter beans

Dash of aged balsamic vinegar

Dash of tomato ketchup

1 avocado, lightly mashed with a fork

1 small goat’s cheese (about 200g I think)

Method

Gently soften off the onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent.
Add the courgette to soften and then throw in thin slices of sausage.
Give it all five minutes to cook down a bit, then thrown in your spices and seasoning and let that fry out for a minute or so.
Add the chopped tomatoes, quarter fill the tin with cold water and add that, then add the butter beans. Bring it up to a steady simmer.
After about 10 minutes of cooking time add the balsamic vinegar and tomato ketchup for a bit of depth to the sauce.
Lightly simmer for another 5 minutes, the sauce should be starting to reduce and thicken at this point so watch it doesn’t catch. Taste the sauce to check the seasoning.
Continue to simmer for another 5 or so minutes while you mash the avocado.
Give it a final stir, flatten the top then throw the avocado all over the top. Pull the goat’s cheese into chunks with your fingers and throw that evenly over the top of the dish as well.
On the lowest heat leave it for a final couple of minutes while the goats cheese melts down a little. Add a little fresh black pepper to the top.
Slop it in a bowl and enjoy it in the garden, with the sun on your face.